BUCS Gold for Pip!
Hammer thrower, Philippa Davenall, enjoyed her biggest success to date at the British University Championships in Bedford over the weekend of Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May.
BUCS Bedford May 4-6th
Following a strong block of training, and positive thinking. Philippa, representing Nottingham Uni, was able to cope well with qualification for the final, and with her first round throw of 55.17m was comfortably through to the following days final.
Philippa entered the arena in confident, and buoyant mood the following day. Even a first round foul didn’t faze her, and she threw a solid 55.75m in the second trial, to ensure a top eight place. What was to follow in round three was a massive personal best of 62.19m and club record. This effectively put the competition to bed, and ensured only a fight for the two remaining medals. Her winning throw beat her rivals by nearly four metres.
“I wasn’t expecting to win, I’ve been out for seven months but now the only aim for me is getting to the Manchester International.”
Philippa now sits fourth on the current UK rankings, and is ranked 25th all-time. She now has the prestigious Loughborough International to look forward to on Sunday 19 May, with her first representative vest for the British student team. Her focus will then be to gain further success at the England U23 championships and British Championships in Bedford the weekend after.
Megan Larkins also competed in the Hammer in the championships, and was a very good 5th. She was also comfortably through to the final with a qualifying throw of 54.29m. Which represented a season’s best, and a senior ranking of 20th. In the final she acquitted herself well with a solid throw of 53.95m. There is much more to come from Megan during the coming season.
Charlie Dobson opened up his year competing his first ever BUCS. Coming so early in the season, his aim was just to see how things are progressing following some time away from the track. “I was happy to qualify through to the final of the men’s 100m, but having felt a slight niggle in my quads during the semi, and with the weather so cold, I decided to play it safe and withdraw.”
Rob Earle